The Ethics and Mores of Race: Equality after the History of Philosophy

The Ethics and Mores of Race: Equality after the History of Philosophy

Rowman & Littlefield
July 2011
216 pages
Size: 6 3/4 x 9 1/2
Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4422-1125-4
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4422-1127-8

Naomi Zack, Professor of Philosophy
University of Oregon

Preeminent philosopher, Naomi Zack, brings us an indispensable work in the ethics of race through an inquiry into the history of moral philosophy. Beginning with Plato and a philosophical tradition that has largely ignored race, The Ethics and Mores of Race: Equality After the History of Philosophy enters into a web of ideas, ethics, and morals that untangle our evolving ideas of racial equality straight into the twenty-first century. The dichotomy between ethics and mores has long aided the separation of what is right with ideas of equality. Zack tackles the co-existence of slavery with the classic moral systems and continues to show how our society has evolved and our mores with it. An ethics of race my not exist yet, but this book gives us twelve discerning requirements to establish it.

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction: Ethics, Mores, and Race
  • Chapter 1: Plato and Aristotle’s Invention of Race
  • Chapter 2: Cosmopolitan Contributions to an Ethics of Race
  • Chapter 3: Natural Law and Inequality
  • Chapter 4: Moral Law and Slavery
  • Chapter 5: Christian Metaphysics and Inequality
  • Chapter 6: Social Contract Theory and the Sovereign Nation State
  • Chapter 7: Deontology, Utilitarianism, and Rights
  • Conclusion: Egalitarian Humanism and Requirements for an Ethics of Race
  • Select Bibliography
  • About the Author
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